Windows NT, Linux, and Technical Communicators

Technical Communicators,
Windows NT and Unix/Linux

Thomas Albert UC Berkeley Extension Instructor of Technical Communication http://www.WORDesign.com	Becky Phung Computer Resource Specialist MIS Consultant
The authors presented a version of this presentation to the Silicon Valley Chapter of the Society of Technical Communication on July 22, 1999	Copyright © 1999 Thomas Albert and Becky Phung All rights reserved Contact talbert@WORDesign.com to obtain information

What is an Operating System?

An operating system is software that enables

humans to use applications

applications to use hardware

os.gif (1781 bytes)

APPLICATIONS: strictly speaking, the shell is an application, but above the shell are applications, such as compilers, text editors/word processors; electronic spreadsheets; and games. (A shell script, too, is an application that uses shell commands to make system calls that the kernel performs.)

KERNEL: schedules processes to enable multi-tasking; manages virtual memory (swapping from hard disk to RAM); manages the file system (enforcing file permissions and security); coordinates device input and output through the device drivers. ([Device drivers "map" specific hardware (such as Brand X mouse, printer, or network card), to the expectations of the operating system, which can "talk to" many types of devices and many brands of each type.]

Technical Communicators
and the OS environment

use online Help

WinHelp/HTML Help for Windows

man pages or WebHelp for Unix/Linux

write online or paper documentation

major market for technical writers because documentation taken for granted for Windows applications

the addition of documentation is a major marketing feature for Linux

Technical Communicators
use the Operating System shell to perform tasks

get help

navigate the file system

create, edit, and share files

print files

monitor the CPU processes

stop print jobs

compress/uncompress files

archive files using ftp

run, edit, or author scripts

Windows NT Strengths

Ease-of-use
- GUI interface; familiar Win95 look
- Plug-and-play driver configuration

Reduced Management Cost
- Economical maintenance and training
- BackOffice/FrontOffice integration

Windows 2000 (Windows NT 5.0)

Active Directory- a network directory service for locating and controlling network resources (computers, accounts,…)
Plug-n-Play - better hardware device management
Scripting - fully functional shell script interface
Terminal Server - light weight Windows terminal
- includes multi-user session support in the kernel
Intellimirror Management- IT managers will be able to deploy or update applications to any user or group of users with a few simple steps from a central location & users’ data easily replaceable.

Unix/Linux Strengths

Unix, an engineering legacy

AT&T in-house tool of regulated monopoly

licensed to universities

kernel separate from shell

stability: isolated from user blunders

modular (package) architecture

security: no GUI entry to kernel?

Unix Evolution

Proliferation of variants ("implementations" or "flavors")

AT&T System V

IBM AIX and scalability

BSD, TCP/IP, Arpanet, and the Internet

Silicon Graphics and high-end rendering with SGI IRIX

Hewlett Packard and high-end manufacturing with HP-UX

SCO Xenix: first Unix for the PC

Sequent Dynix

NeXT Mach

Pyramid OS/x

Sun and desktop workstations with Solaris (RISC platform)

Linus Thorvald’s Minux (minimal Unix for Intel platform)

GNU/Linux, the Free Software Foundation, copyleft, Open Source Initiative, "bazaar vs cathedral": developers express individuality

8/11/99 RedHat, Inc. of Durham, N.C. goes public (with support from Dell and IBM)

Linux Strengths

optimized for i386 (Intel PCs)
- dedicated swap partitions
- kernel fully isolated from GUI
open source code
- reduces risk of virus
- offers recognition for individual contributors
- generates enthusiasm and cooperative teamwork
- allow an organization to fix bugs or customize the OS without having to depend on an external vendor
low cost for independent ISPs (Apache), researchers, developing nations

Linux (Re)Sources

ASL Workstations of Milpitas provides dual boot systems http://www.aslab.com and support [they supply Linus]
Xi Graphics http://www.xig.com provides X servers for Linux/Solaris/BSD
Linux World Expo (August 10-12, 1999), San Jose Convention Center
http://www.slashdot.com
Silicon Valley Linux User's Group: http://www.svlug.org/

Demonstration of Tasks

Almost all operating systems support a common set of user tasks
Analogy for the "new" environment: if you can read a map, you can work in any city or country

Getting Help

Windows NT

F1, Start>Help, Help menu (WinHelp, HTML Help), paperclip appears

Web site(s)

Unix shell

man command_name (reference only)

WebHelp

Web site(s)

Navigate the File System

Windows NT Explorer (can be a browser with "Back" button)

Unix shell

pwd (present working directory)

ls (list files/directories) -l -a switches

cd .. (change directory up a level)

Share Files

Windows NT Explorer

right-click folder, create "share" w/ options

Unix shell mode of access

chmod -R 777 my_directory

recursively grant read, write, and execute permissions to user, group, and others
chmod -R 750 my_directory

recursively grant full permissions to user, read/execute to group, and none to others

Print Files

Windows NT

print from the application (hidden API call)

Unix shell for line printer

lp my_file or lpd my_file

/etc/printcap is the printer configuration file

Monitor CPU Processes

Windows NT

Ctrl Alt Del > TaskManager

Unix shell to show "process status"

ps -a shows all terminal-related process IDs (PIDs)

top shows the most intensive processes (Linux)

Stop a Print Job

Windows NT

Ctrl Alt Del > TaskManager > End Task

Unix shell to "kill" a process

kill -9 process_id_of_job

Create and Edit Text Files

Windows NT Notepad

Unix vi command and insert modes

vi file_name starts vi

cursor: h left, j down, k up, l right

a append, i insert, x delete character

:wq write and quit; :q! quit and no save

Uncompress Files

Windows NT - use WinZip

Linux tar (tape archive)

tar -xvf tarfile.tar.gz extracts, verbose (print filenames during extraction), files from the named archive, then use gzip (GNU project) to uncompress

tar -cvf to create a new file archive in verbose mode

Summary

An operating systems enables applications by linking users and hardware to software applications

Windows NT leads in ease of use

Unix leads in scalability, reliability, and security

GNU/Linux is open source Unix optimized for the Intel platform

Technical writers perform analogous tasks regardless of the OS

These two environments are converging in power and ease-of-use

Perhaps an even more important than basic operating system literacy are convergence and integration:
- convergence between data communications and telecommunications, such as internet telephony (voice-over-IP): http://www.net2phone.com/
integration of multiple applications, protocols and operating system artifacts, in which the technical communicator might be involved with middleware/XML, or scripts (Tcl, Perl, JavaScript)